Ascent Academy and Malawi Defence Force ( MDF) Lionesses progressed to the semi-finals of the 2023 Fam Goshen Women’s Championship after winning their respective matches quarter-finals matches before a huge crowd at Bingu National Stadium on Tuesday.
Day Two of the competition produced nine goals in two quarter-finals matches.
Ascent knocked out defending champions Kukoma Ntopwa Women following 4-0 victory in an early kick off while Lionesses beat FCB Nyasa Big Bullets 4-1 in another match.
This means Ascent will face either Silver Strikers Ladies or Moyale Sisters, who face-off in the quarter-finals on Wednesday at the same venue.
It was a perfect revenge for Ascent after they lost to Ntopwa 5-3 post-match penalties in the 2022 final after 1-1 stalemate in regulation time.
Alefa Chimbeta scored a brace while Atuweni Njilima was also on target before Rose Alufandika scored into her own net.
Ascent coach Thom Mkolongo was pleased with the performance of his players.
“The players showed great character the entire game. I am happy that the players did according to our game-plan. We have no time to celebrate as our focus is on the semi-finals,” said Mkolongo.
Ntopwa Coach and Owner Isaac Jomo Osman said his charges did not come to the party.
“We were outplayed for the better part of the match. We were second on the ball and we did not play our usual game. We accept the defeat and plan for the next edition,” said Osman.
In the late kick off, Lionesses defeated Lionesses to book their place in the semi-finals. Fazila Chiyembekeza and Ruth Tambala, Catherine Kachala and Laiter Magombo were on target for Lionesses while Sharon Dzimau netted the consolation for Bullets Women.
The two teams also met last year in which Lionesses lost 2-0 in the group stage match. Lionesses will face the winners between Civil Service United Women and MK Academy who meet in another quarter-final today.
Lionesses coach John Kaputa said they are on a serious mission this year.
“We played according to our instructions and we are really happy with the performance of the players,” said Kaputa.
Bullets assistant coach Charles Lubani rued missed chances.
” The result is not a true reflection of the game. We played well and we were better than our opponents but they capitalised on our mistakes. We also missed good chances chances in the first half,” Lubani said.
The semi-finals will be played on Friday before the final on Sunday.
